PROJECT SUMMARY This proposal entitled, ?Evaluation and enhancement of the Summer Food Service Program in youth from an urban, low-resource community?, is for a Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (K01) for Dr. E. Whitney Evans, PhD, RD an Instructor (Research) at the Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center (WCDRC) at The Miriam Hospital and Brown University Medical School. Dr. Evans received her PhD in nutritional epidemiology from the Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, where she developed expertise in nutrition and the analytical skills to study the role of diet in relative weight in youth. Dr. Evans? long-term career goal is to draw upon this background to design and conduct innovative obesity interventions specific to low-income youth. Thus, in response to evidence that low-income youth are at increased risk for excess summer weight gain, this application focuses on an existing federal nutrition assistance program ? the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) ? to determine how it can be enhanced to minimize income-related health disparities. To help Dr. Evans successfully carry out this research and achieve her long-term career goal, this award will provide training in four key content areas: 1) qualitative research methods, 2) the design and conduct of behavioral obesity interventions, 3) advanced statistical methods to analyze data from randomized controlled trials (RCTs), and 4) weight-related health disparities. This training will occur through formal didactics and hands-on research experience under the guidance of a highly qualified team of mentors. Dr. Evans will work closely with her primary mentor, Dr. Rena Wing, an internationally recognized obesity researcher, and four co- mentors: Dr. Sara Folta (qualitative research methods); Dr. Elissa Jelalian (behavioral obesity interventions for youth); Dr. Richard Jones (RCT statistical analysis); and Dr. Elsie Taveras (weight-related health disparities). Through three complimentary studies, the proposed research project will thoroughly evaluate the SFSP. First, it will examine how dietary intake patterns (total energy intake and diet quality, as measured by the Healthy Eating Index, 2010), change in BMI z-score (as a proxy for change in total body adiposity), and SFSP participation over the summer relate to each other low-income schoolchildren, ages 6-12 years. Second, through focus groups with low-income families, it will identify motivators for and barriers to SFSP participation. Findings from these two formative studies along with the training Dr. Evans receives in behavioral obesity intervention development will be used to design an enhanced version of the SFSP. The enhanced SFSP will target relevant obesity risk factors identified in study 1 as well as SFSP participation barriers identified in study 2 to improve SFSP engagement. The feasibility, acceptability and preliminary efficacy of this enhanced version of the SFSP will then be compared to the standard SFSP in an RCT on the basis of participation, diet and excess summer weight gain. This research will form the basis for a larger efficacy trial of the intervention to be proposed in an R01 application.